Allowing devices to connect to computers through a wireless communication path and wirelessly networking groups of computers is one of the fastest growing segments of the PC industry. Present and emerging standing technologies in this field include IEEE 802.11 (versions a, b and g) also known as ‘WiFi’ available from (# sign used to prevent automatic hyperlinks) http:#standards.ieee.org#catalog#olis#lanman.html, ‘Bluetooth’ available from https:#www.bluetooth.org and Cypress Semiconductor's proprietary WirelessUSB standard available from http:#www.wirelessusb.org.
Ball Grid Array (BGA) packaging technology is a popular choice for packaging semiconductor devices, or “chips,” because BGAs offer advantages in space, cost and density over other packaging technologies. This is also true for semiconductor devices pertaining to wireless communications. Wireless devices tend to be quite sensitive to inductance, however, and it is advantageous to minimize the effects of inductance when designing, manufacturing and using wireless and other sensitive devices.
A conventional BGA package 10 is shown in FIG. 1. This package 10 includes one or more devices or integrated circuits 12, a BGA substrate 14, mold compound 16, gold wire 20 for wire bonds, epoxy resin 22 to adhere the devices 12 to the substrate 14, and solder-balls 24 to make electrical connections to a circuit board (not shown), such as a line or slot card in a computer or other device. The conventional BGA package 10 may pick up inductance from its connections, for example where a bond wire 20 connects to a pad on the device 12, and through a trace to a ball 24 which connects to a board which connects to an antenna (e.g., an antenna attached to the line card). This electrical path can pick up inductance, and negatively effect the performance of the device. Excess inductance limits the range of transmitting and receiving the wireless signals, and reduces quality of service (QOS) of wireless devices.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other limitations in the prior art.